"He is an absolute liar and here is the proof," says Faiz Albayrakdar, director of the Tuweitha nuclear facility, gesturing theatrically towards the concrete shacks in the heavily guarded compound 15 miles from Baghdad.

"He said we are producing nuclear weapons here, come see for yourself."
A multi-national force of journalists dutifully troops in and sure enough, there is nothing more than a row of stainless steel washbasins.

The building, according to Mr Albayrakdar, a Scottish-trained scientist, is one of three shown on a satellite image of the site released by Britain where Iraq has allegedly resumed research for the production of nuclear material.

The piece de resistance is a pair of barn-like structures where we are told some of Iraq's brightest scientists now grow mushrooms.

They too were featured on Mr Blair's map. Sure enough, inside a dark room, white fungi spring from manure-filled plastic bags.

Adil Nadeer, who heads this mushroom unit, picks out a few fleshy heads, pops them in his mouth, and chomps with gusto. "I used to have an American wife . . . now I have two Iraqi wives," he says.

"These mushrooms they give him lots of energy," says a colleague, winking broadly.

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